Has Avatar really changed things? Will 3D movies become much more common? For instance, does anyone know how many 3D movies we could expect in the next year or two, and what they might be?
The real question is, which movies won’t be in 3D? Anything action/FX oriented will be 3D.
That said, Airbender may have killed 2D->3D conversion.
There are two kinds of 3D (stereoscopic) movies; Those filmed in 3D using the fancy cameras, and those filmed in 2D and turned into 3D using a crappy digital post-process.
The 2D conversion method is currently the most common, and it’s turning the whole experience sour for a lot of people, which is a serious nail in its coffin this early in the rollout. If they’re not careful that may kill it.
The shoot in 3D, or the animated in 3D, methods are generally favourable, as long as they stay away from in-your-face comin-at-ya tricks. Audiences don’t seem to appreciate gimmicks, but they like being drawn into a 3D world.
Personally, I don’t think it will go away, but I don’t think it will revolutionise cinema and instead will fall by the wayside somewhat, becoming just a second option for some particular types of movie.
A friend of mine was of the opinion that video gaming, which he says is going 3D for all the action stuff, will push the movies that way. Make sense?
This is one that I worked on last year.
No. 3DTV is cool, but the number of people rushing out to buy 3D-capable television to play 3D video games is probably smaller than the number of people physically unable to see 3D movies.
I honestly don’t see the general home market embracing 3D any time soon. Wearing glasses for 120 minutes in a darkened theatre is quite different to wearing them at home regularly. And as someone with astigmatism, I can tell you that wearing two pairs of glasses at once on a regular basis sounds like hell.
Interactive 3D (e.g. gaming) is a totally different beast, IMHO, because immersion is a big goal in that context.
You forgot the 3DS which will undoubtedly sell like…well, Nintendo DS’s.
And animation, of course. And it’s getting increasingly difficult to draw the line between animation and non-animation.
No I didn’t. The 3DS is a portable gaming device, it’s not an upgrade to your home theater system. Having a 3DS isn’t going to increase the 3D bluray market in the slightest, while PS3 owners who upgrade to a 3DTV will now have an influence on the 3D on bluray market.
I was responding more so to the first part of your response, being the “no,” which seemed to imply that videogames–nintendo 3DS included–would not push movies in that direction by way of gaining popularity. I think it’s an effect the 3DS could have.
Ah, that makes sense. I guess any exposure and accessibility to 3D will increase the popularity. Bbut the 3DS won’t *directly * and appreciably affect the popularity of 3D movies - just more 3D games (which will then in turn affect…). The point is that the 3D console market is really really small. The novelty of 3D movies themselves will push demand far more than 3D gaming will.